When it comes to writing, Robert B. Parker knows no boundaries. From the iconic Spenser detective series and the novels featuring Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone, to the groundbreaking historical novel Double Play, Parker's imagination has taken readers from Boston to Brooklyn and back again. In Appaloosa, fans are taken on another trip, to the untamed territories of the West during the 1800s.

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Publisher's Summary

When it comes to writing, Robert B. Parker knows no boundaries. From the iconic Spenser detective series and the novels featuring Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone, to the groundbreaking historical novel Double Play, Parker's imagination has taken readers from Boston to Brooklyn and back again. In Appaloosa, fans are taken on another trip, to the untamed territories of the West during the 1800s.

When Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch arrive in Appaloosa, they find a small, dusty town suffering at the hands of renegade rancher Randall Bragg, a man who has so little regard for the law that he has taken supplies, horses, and women for his own and left the city marshal and one of his deputies for dead. Cole and Hitch, itinerant lawmen, are used to cleaning up after opportunistic thieves, but in Bragg they find an unusually wily adversary, one who raises the stakes by playing not with the rules, but with emotions.

What the Critics Say

"[A] stunning western....This is one of Parker's finest." (Publishers Weekly) "Parker fans will expect the action and the smart-ass banter, but it's the sense of melancholy and irrevocable sacrifice that will separate this fine novel from most of the author's recent work." (Booklist)

This was a great book. A great and realistic tale about two Old West Marshalls. It has everything Friendships, gunfights, mercenaries, Train robbberies, Murder, Indians; everything you would expect from old west fiction. If you are a fan of the Wyatt earp tales or enjoy old west sagas like the HBO show Deadwood. This book is highly recommended.

Maybe because most of my Saturday afternoons were spent at the local theater where the tickets were $.25 cents and popcorn was $.10 and every third movie was a western, but I loved this audible book. I liked the characters, I liked the plot, I really liked the reading. It was one of those books that stayed with me for days after and made picking up the next listen difficult. You do not have to be a guy with a Zane Gray collection to appreciate this novel.

I never read or listened to any Robert Parker books that didn't have Spencer in them. He can sure write a good western. It was one of his best books that I had experienced so far. If you like a good western, you will love this book.

The story, the relaxed pace, the characters are all classic western genre. I listened to this on a 9 hr. drive and the time melted away. I was transported to the world of Parker's creation. Each chapter (and there's a lot of them) is short and moves the story forward. I kept wondering, how is this going to resolve itself - and that part is so simple but elegant I laughed; yet the sentiment of the resolution left me emotionally satisfied in a way few books ever do. Fanfriggintastic.

Maybe because most of my Saturday afternoons were spent at the local theater where the tickets were $.25 cents and popcorn was $.10 and every third movie was a western, but I loved this audible book. I liked the characters, I liked the plot, I really liked the reading. It was one of those books that stayed with me for days after and made picking up the next listen difficult. You do not have to be a guy with a Zane Gray collection to appreciate this novel.

An engrossing (if rather short) story, with gritty non-nonsense characters and some clever dialogue. Mercifully free of the usual Western cliches and central-casting characters, the two lead figures are interesting and well described. A longer book would have allowed more development of their characters and the supporting cast, but its still satisfying. I'll definitely look for more like this.

I just finished listening to Appaloosa. If you like the western Genre then this is a great book. If you don't, it is still a great book. It flows well from beginning to end. It is a true Story of friendship.

It's been awhile since I've read a Western and I guess there's not always that much too them. This one was mediocre in my mind. The cowboy dialogue was funny and I like the way it was written in the first person (which worked well for the narrator). My main complaint was that the plot was pretty light and there weren't alot of details to supplement that fact.

This story grabs you from the very start. The two main protagonists engage in quirky monosyllabic conversations, which are delivered excellently by a superb narrration. It is a buddy story about two lawmen who have their own rules they live by. The story bowls along at a good pace, with outlaws, shoot outs, indians and everything else you want in a wild west story.
I highly recommend this to all those who love a good story.

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